Alright, I'm getting close to purchasing a 2007 G35 or G53X and really only have 1 thing to decide. Wether or not to purchase the nav package.Honestly I don't have any need or want for the nav system. I've got a very capable and dependebale nav system in "vz navigator" on my verizon wireless phone. It's not as "bling bling" as an in dash system but it does the job well for what I need.

The only reason I'm looking at the nav package is the "music box" 9.? gig hard drive storage for music.

I keep 100% of my tunes on a creative labs zen micro MP3 player. I actually sold all my old cd's on ebay and all my music is on it. I see that the non-nav models still have an auxillary input.

Should I drop the $2k on the nav system just to get this feature? If so how do I get the tunes from MP3 player to the hard drive (i see the flash card input but no usb port.. it seems to me a usb would be much easier)? Finally - If I go sans the nav system how well does the aux input work as far as ease of use and sound quality? I'm assuming you still have to change songs, etc.. thru the MP 3 player interface, right?



Thanks!

 

When it comes down to it, only you can decide if spending the extra $2k will be worth it to you or not. I too debated this when I ordered my G and I am glad that I ordered the navi. I know you have an existing Navigation system on your phone, however having one that is integrated with the car is much better IMO. Plus the navi's graphics are incredible.

The only way to get MP3s to the HD is to burn them to an audio CD. Its a small PITA, but having the Music Box is still a big plus nonetheless. I actually find myself using a couple of CF cards more than the Music Box. Hooking up an MP3 player to the AUX ports is certainly possible, however you'll need to control everything from the player itself rather than the controls on the steering wheel. Now that I have the Navi in my G, the extra costs were more than worth it to me. Good luck with your decision.

 

The XM Nav Traffic is pretty good!
We live in Los Angeles, so this info is handy...
$6 /mo for XM Radio (which sounds amazing) and another $3/mo for Nav Traffic. Worth every penny for me.

 

I say go with the Nav. I have had Nav in my last two Infiniti's, and once you had it and learn all of its functional effects. You'll wonder how you got by without it. Besides it really will enhance the resale value of your car. I am a Auto Broker in Atlanta and help customers to decide nav or nav not! They usually always go with nav and later see that they made a valued decision.

Good luck,

Lawrence

 

I made the decision to go without the Nav. Of course it would of been a really nice feature, but the cost really out weighted the benefits for me.

If you are getting it for "looks" you don't gain that much since the 7in lcd comes base.

MSRP for the Nav is ~2k, but realize that Nav cars are high in demand, so you have alot more negotiating power on a non Nav car. So really the differnce in price is around 2.5k - 3k.

The 9GB HD is a nice feature, but I felt the 6 disc CD changer will give me ~4.2GB of storage so that should be sufficient. Also I mainly have mp3s and the process of converting them to wavs and burning them on a CD to be able to upload them onto the HD seemed like a lot of work and I would probably never utlize it unless someone finds a workaround. Plus since you said you mainly use the Zen, the Aux input would work for you well.

I'm planning on getting the Mio C310 portable GPS. It'll be in the glove box most of the time and will come out when I really need it. Hope that helps.

 

2000 for the navi is a good deal from the factory.. and it packs with a lot of goodies.. especially the bird view...
plus you got the 9gb hd...

 

I have a portable Garmin that I use in both cars. It was cheap to buy and works as good as any on them. I can see the benefits of having a built in one, but could not justify the cost.

 

In your case the music box will be pretty much useless because you can only rip music off of audio cds. Like Shane mentioned, if you listen to MP3s you may actually like using a CF card better than your portable MP3 player as it is fully integrated into the factory stereo controls. I decided to go with the navigation package because of all the extra goodies including the touchscreen LCD, CF card, music box but I have actually found time saving routes I wouldn't have used before from the navigation. Also, I can't see it being too safe to stare at your tiny little phone screen when you want directions while driving. You have to decide if it's worth it for you, but for me it definitely is. Good luck with the decision.

 

Nav is definitely worth it in my opinion. Not only has Navtraffic saved me, but if I get lost coming home from somewhere at night, all I say is "destination home" and the route pops up. If the nav saves you from being totally lost just once I think its worth it but I agree - only you can decide that.

 

better resale value if u get it.

 

We got our first nav system with our 2001 Acura MDX and between my wife and I we've had 3 other cars since and always get the OEM nav. The new nav with voice control and touchscreen is lightyears ahead of the one in my 2003 G35 Coupe. I'd definitely recommend it. Once you use it for a while, you'll be hooked. It's especially useful at night when my aging eyes can't see any of the street signs.

If your worried about the cost, just talk the dealer down another $2K.

 

Kewltea, the 6-disk changer is not 4.2GB of mp3 storage. The changer only holds audio CDs. 6 X 70-minutes of audio would take up only about 400MB of HD space in MP3 format.

In other words, the 9GB HD is not just twice the music storage of the 6-disk changer, it's more like 25 times.

I was on the fence with the Nav system, but the Musicbox feature tipped the balance.

 

I've found it interesting that many work very hard to strike a hard bargain and get the best price possible, and then when it comes to nav, they don't think twice about dropping 2k on it. One question (rhetorical) would be how useful is navigation, do you actually need it? Another compelling thought is take a nuvi 680 which costs 1/2 the price, it offers LBS which the factory I understand does not.

imho once a person removes the "must have" feeling about every option/toys, nav is not as appealing anymore. A coworker bought a 2 yr. old S class Benz, and the nav is not working properly. Isn't it amazing that 2 mos. later he hasn't gotten around to having the dealership fix it (somehow the system only has Texas addresses on the screen and can't show the vehicle's location)? Just demonstrates that as an ordinary worker bee, he doesn't need the nav that badly....

 

Once you go NAV you won't go back!

Don't think I'll ever own another car without it. Can't wait to make use of the XM NAV Traffic.

 

Actually, Kewtea's dash mounted 6 disc changer is compatible with MP3s. It's only when you get the Navi that the 6 disc changer (trunk mounted) is audio CDs only. So in fact he can get 4.2GB worth of MP3s in his changer.